Aug. 4, 2011
Election 2011
Several incumbents won’t run again By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
No matter what happens in the November election, there will be some turnover on Grandview Heights City Council and the board of education. Although council members Steve Gladman and Ed Hastie have decided to seek reelection, council member Steve Von Jasinski will not. “This gig is up,” he said. But Von Jasinski said he will decide
next week whether he will run for mayor “It’s a lot different than being a counagainst Ray DeGraw, who will be seek- cil member,” he said. “It takes a lot more ing his third term. time and I’d want to make sure I “I’ve pulled all the papercould give 100 percent of my work I need to run for mayor effort to the job if I was electand I have my family’s ed.” backing if I decide to run,” As for council, Von he said. Jasinski said that after servThe deciding factor will ing 12 of the last 14 years be whether he feels he could and the last eight years make the time commitment straight, “it’s time to let someneeded to be mayor, Von Jasinone else have the opportunity” ski said. to serve.
“The heavy, heavy, heavy stuff of the last few years is behind us and it hasn’t been too busy recently,” he said. “It’s a good time to leave. I’m proud of the job I’ve done on council and the decisions I’ve made that I thought were what was best for the future of the community.” Both Gladman and Hastie will seek election to their second term on council. Gladman said the economic issues facing the city is driving his run for reelection, just as they did four years ago. “The current economic conditions con-
MAKING SCENT-SATIONAL CANDLES
tinue to be something we need to be concerned about,” he said. “We want to maintain our current level of services within the confines of our budget and see business activity in Grandview, but not at expense of our tax base.” Hastie said he is seeking reelection “for the same basic reasons I ran the first time. I grew up in this town and I love Grandview and want to give something back to the community.”
Resident tells council of possible problem with Oakland Avenue project By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Mandy Finley (right) of Mansfield, mixes a fragrance into her candles as Ashley Abbott works on hers. The two were making custom candles at The Candle Lab as part of a bachelorette party for Ashleah Sloey of Grove City during the Grandview Hop on July 30. The Grandview Hop is held the last Saturday of the month from 5 to 9 p.m., with stores in the Grandview and First avenues area staying open later for the event.
See CANDIDATES, page A2
An Oakland Avenue resident told Grandview Heights City Council Aug. 1 about a potential problem that’s occurred as part of the rehabilitation project on the street. Richard Reau said he believes the holes drilled into the new curbs that are designed to accept the storm water flowing from residents’properties are 3 inches higher than the outlets from the homes. “So there’s a fundamental hydrologic discrepancy here,” Reau said. “This could have a serious impact on the drainage on our lots, the soundness of our properties and the property values of (our homes).” Mayor Ray DeGraw told Reau the city will have the engineers
working at the project look at the situation and said he would get back to him as soon as the extent of the situation is determined. Patrik Bowman, director of administration/economic development, said the engineers are aware of the issue raised by Reau. He also told council that a progress meeting will be held on Aug. 5 with the school district to update the status of the Oakland Avenue project as the Aug. 17 opening of the school year approaches. More details about the work that will be done over the next couple of weeks will be discussed at the meeting, he said. “There will probably be some pavement down at that time,” Bowman said. The project will likely “step up See PROBLEM, page A2
School administrators meet with Iraqi educators By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Members of the Grandview Heights City School District’s administrative team had the opportunity last month to meet with a delegation of Iraqi educators and administrators from the Ministry of Education for Anbar Province. The meeting was set up by the Ohio Department of Education. “I was honored that we were selected by ODE as one of the sites for the delegation to visit,” Superintendent Ed O’Reilly said. “I was pleased that their visit occurred when so many of our administrative team were on hand.” Along with O’Reilly, Stevenson Elementary principal Brian Bowser, Edison Intermediate/Middle School principal Bob Baeslack, director of child care Courtney Price, director of curriculum Katie Maxfield and network administrator Brad Pettit met with the delegation. The discussion included each Grandview administrator providing an overview of the role
“
I was honored that we were selected by ODE as one of the sites for the delegation to visit. I was pleased that their visit occurred when so many of our administrative team were on hand.
ED O’REILLY — superintendent
”
they play on a day to day basis, O’Reilly said. The group also answered questions from the Iraqi delegation and learned about how schools in Iraq operate and the issues they are facing, he said. It turns out that schools in Iraq operate in much the same way as in America, with schools similarly organized by grade level and featuring much of the same core curriculum, O’Reilly said. French and English are the main foreign language classes
taught in Iraqi schools, so many students are able to speak English, he said. “I was struck by how much we really are the same,” O’Reilly said. “Our similarities are greater than our differences.” Baeslack said he found himself reflecting during the meeting about all that Iraq has gone through in recent years, especially the war that started in 2003. It was heartening to see that Iraq is moving forward and looking to improve the education it provides to its children, he said. “They were interested in how we did things, but there are some areas in which they are more cutting edge than we are,” Baeslack said. O’Reilly said there is a possibility that a distance learning project could be set up in which Grandview students could have a dialogue with Iraqi student via computer technology. “We are still in the very, very early stages of talking about that, but it would be a wonderful opportunity for our students,” he said.
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Joan Klitch, president of the Franklin Club, studies her hand during a July 28 game at the Columbus Bridge Center. The club is one of the oldest in the United States.
Franklin Club marks 75 years of playing bridge By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Franklin Club, a Columbus-area bridge club with many of its members from the Tri-Village area, is marking its 75th anniversary this year. “We’re one of the oldest continuing clubs in the United States,” said club board member Terry Smith of Marble Cliff. The club formed one year before the nation-
Still looking for fun things to do with your money? View exclusive videos, stories, photos and more. Connect with other fans, parents and athletes. CHAT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, CHEER ON YOUR TEAM.
Find things to do for $10 or less with the Cheap Thrills blog at www.ThisWeekNews.com.
al organization, the American Contract Bridge League, and two years before the Central Ohio Bridge Association. Columbus was one of many areas of the country where bridge grew in popularity in the early 1930s, largely due to the renowned bridge player Ely Culbertson, who wrote books, lectured and hosted a radio program on the game, Smith said. See BRIDGE, page A2
Weekly newspaper. Daily updates. Central Ohio’s choice for community news.
ThisWeekNEWS.com | ThisWeekSPORTS.com